Seekers Shopping
by transformersnewfan
Summary: AU: Starscream and Thundercracker go shopping in a department store on Cybertron. Part of a larger story collaboration with LadyClassical called "If Only You Knew." Part of my AU with "Thundercracker's Backstory."


At the main mall in Vos, back on Cybertron, a huge department store anchored the property, selling everything you could imagine.

Thundercracker, Starscream, the triplets, and because he insisted on going with them, Laserbeak, arrived on a very busy Saturday. The store bustled with Christmas shoppers, loading their carts with bargains, and presents for their loved ones.

Not risking any more attacks, the Seekers left Skywarp in the Control Room with Soundwave for the day. At which time, the Condor said that he intended to accompany them, "in order to ensure the quality of the sparkling's possessions." None of them, least of all Soundwave, knew the Bird believed Crystal to be his half-sibling.

"Enough Seekers here," Thundercracker grumbled, looking at the crowds.

"Hey, Christmas is coming," Starscream admitted.

The two Seekers each grabbed carts, and put Dawning and Darkwing in one, and Darkmount in the other.

Together, they picked out a sparkling furniture set that included a white crib, a dresser, and a changing table. The triplets played with the oversized boxes in the carts. They selected various items, including a constellation nightlight, "Seekerlings loved looking at starry nights, even if it's only an LED." Starscream marveled, a sparkling bathtub, TC noted, "We'll need this because we've only got a stand-up shower." Starscream: "You should get a bathtub installed, like Megatron and I did." TC: "Not gonna do any major remodeling jobs before the baby comes, Star.", And a huge amount of diapers, sparkling dresses, and cute little toys. They also bought a lot of toys and gifts for the triplets.

"We need some of those cashiers to help us," Starscream insisted, setting his optics upon an older Associate, "Hey you!"

Stormrunner, who has worked for the store for twenty-five years, knew the group meant only one thing for her day: Aggravation. "Can I help you, Sir?"

"I am Starscream, Bondmate of Lord Megatron," the red and white Seeker began, "Perhaps you've heard of him?"

"I used to bet on Cy-Kill, so yeah," she answered, referring to Megs' frequent Gladiatorial opponent. "What about him?"

"We need your expertise," Starscream snapped his digits at the femme, as if she was an indentured servant, "Tell me, which of these swings are on sale?"

The Associate explained the difference, "This one's a little more expensive, but you can use the coupon. The other one, you can't use the coupon on, but it's for an older sparkling."

"This is for a newling," Thundercracker told her.

Stormrunner, looking at the toddler triplets, just said, "Oh."

"We'll take the better one," the blue Seeker insisted.

The Associate assumed they were finished and returned to her reticketing.

But Starscream continued, the feedback of all the other customers deafening, "Now about this layette set…"

Stormrunner put down the equipment and gathered some blue-colored offerings.

"It's a femme newling," TC told her.

"Oh," the Associate had to recover the items quickly, before picking up some pink sets of packaged sparkling clothes.

Thundercracker was a decidedly easier customer, "Sorry, I should have told you that. It's for our younger brother's baby. He's due in March."

"He had artificial insemination," Starscream told her.

"Okay…" Stormrunner didn't feel she needed to know this, "So this one's gonna run you a few more credits, but it's a thirty-nine-piece set, and the other one's only got twenty-three."

TC took the thirty-nine-piece set, "Got it."

Seeing her fellow Associate, Lunarbolt, alone at the register and the long line of shoppers building, Stormrunner tried to break away from the brothers, "Is there anything else I can do for you?" Reticketing would be shot until this group had left the store.

"We'll let you know," Starscream told her. He then looked over the gift section and found the snow globes.

Selecting one, "It's not exactly like the one from Vosnia," the Trine Leader grumbled, "Definitely more commercial and without the artistic charm of hand-made items."

"Just get it," TC rolled his optics. He found a couple of huggy androids, and threw them in the cart, hoping one would be for Skywarp to replace the lost one.

"Hey Stormy," Starscream called.

Stormrunner: "WHAT?!"

Starscream: "The sign says that everything is twenty-five percent off today."

Stormrunner yelled back, "That's when you open a charge card, Sir."

"If I may be so bold, Starscream," Laserbeak hissed, "You should open a charge and receive these savings."

"Agreed," Star nodded, "I'm getting in line."

The Trine Leader, with Darkwing babbling loudly, got to the head of the line. Stormrunner went to take his purchases, but then he saw the better snow globes, "Oh, I didn't see those before."

The other shoppers were furious when Starscream left his cart—with his sparklings—to look at the higher-end trinkets. "Sir, are you ready or are you gonna keep shopping?!" Stormrunner was getting sick of him.

"I'll move," Star told her absent-mindedly, pulling his cart away. Finally, he found a pretty snow globe with a Seekerlette ice skating, "Ah, this one." He went to get back in line, and by this time, Stormrunner was with another customer. Her fellow Associate, Lunarbolt, waved him over, "Step over here, Sir."

Starscream immediately recognized her accent, "You're from Northern Vos?"

"That's right, Sir," the older femme proclaimed, "I came to the city forty years ago."

"My Creator was from Northern Vos," Starscream smiled. They then both conversed in old Vosian as Lunarbolt scanned their items.

Lunarbolt: "Are you opening a charge card today, Sir?"

"Of course," Starscream, again absent-mindedly as he picked up Darkwing and bounced him up and down, "You need my Decepticon Badge?"

He handed it to her, and she processed his application, "Congratulations Sir, you've been approved for two-hundred and fifty credits with our store."

Lunarbolt bagged everything up and placed the items in his cart. They chatted together in old Vosian a bit longer, with Starscream telling her about his Sire, who was a professor at the Cybertron War Academy. Lunarbolt thanked Starscream because the femme Associate would receive a bonus for opening the charge card.

Meanwhile, TC was still shopping, now looking over the zero to three months sleepers. He kept thinking of how cold it was in their quarters, so he selected the ones with booties for the mini-thrusters.

He brought the ones he liked to the counter, "Okay Stormrunner, I'm buying these, and I want a couple more of this one," he held up a pink onesie with tiny petrorabbits on it.

"I'll haveta check the inventory, Sir," the Associate switched to the online system, which was slower, "It's gonna take a minute." She smiled at him, calming down a bit and appreciating his business.

"You think these'll be warm enough?" he asked.

"They're supposed to be warm enough for space bridge travel," she nodded, then frowned at her computer, "Damn!" she slammed her fists on the keyboard.

TC just listened.

"We don't have any in our store," Stormrunner began, "but we can order it for you, Sir."

The blue Seeker thought about it, long enough for several customers to line up behind him, making the Associate nervous.

Finally, TC decided, "Okay, as long as I haveta order, I'll take a dozen."

"Okay," Stormrunner typed in the quantity, "now we need your coordinates."

TC gave her the paper with his information, but the femme was having trouble, culminating in smacking the side of her computer screen.

"SUNBLAST!" Stormrunner called for her co-worker, "The systems' on the fritz!"

This Associate was a bit younger than Stormrunner, with dark, cruel-looking optics. Thundercracker's immediate thought was that she was a witch.

"We cannot ship packages to Earth," Sunblast told him, "do you have an address in Vos we could send it to?"

"No," TC shrugged disappointedly, "and I really wanted these," he mused as he picked up the garment.

"Well, you can buy these," Stormrunner told him, closing the internet to switch back to the register setting.

But then Thundercracker thought of something, "Wait, can you mail it to my Creators in Vos?"

Sunblast: "Of course."

Then Lunarbolt told them, "I'm going to lunch."

Stormrunner saw that the line now consisted of ten Seekers; she told her co-worker, "Ugh, you can have the order," and to the customers, "Next in line, step over!" she then got on Lunarbolt's register.

Sunblast set up his order to be shipped to TC's parents' home in suburban Vos, "Do you have a credit card with us, Sir?"

"My brother Starscream does," the blue Seeker waved him over, "Hey Star!"

"Yes, yes," the red and white Seeker left their carts to come pay for the items, leaving his sparklings unattended. Darkmount babbled to the other two that this was their chance, and all three flew crookedly out of the carts.

Starscream: "What?"

TC: "They need your credit card."

Starscream saw the sleepers, "Awwww, I didn't see these. Where were these?"

"Um," TC couldn't remember, "Where are these from, Sunblast?"

"Polo," she grinned at them, "our finest brand."

"I must look at that department," the red and white Seeker noted, hurrying away.

Now Sunblast was mad, "He didn't give you the credit card."

And the other customers were even angrier.

TC: "Hey Star! I need your new credit card!"

Starscream was looking over things, "In a minute."

"We'll look at these IN A MINUTE," the blue Seeker could feel the femme's ire, "First, we gotta finish this order."

"Okay, okay," Starscream came back, and let the Associate scan his temporary card.

The register made a negative noise.

"This account could not be authorized," Sunblast told them.

"HUH?" Starscream got upset, "But I just opened it with your co-worker!"

The Associate narrowed her glare at him and looked at his temporary charge again, "It says you have a credit limit of two-hundred and fifty credits. How much have you spent today?"

"O-Oh," the Trine Leader realized, "a lot."

"Great," TC searched his subspace for his Dad's credits, "Alright, we'll pay for it, just not with the discount."

That's when the Associate smiled, "Why don't YOU open your own store card, Sir? Then you can have the discount. Also, aren't you still going to shop the Polo Department?"

"Oh, I can do that?" TC asked.

Sunblast: "I just said that."

"Sure!" he gave her his Decepticon Badge.

She processed his application, "Congratulations Sir, you've been approved for two-thousand, five-hundred credits today! For the rest of the day, everything is twenty-five percent to you in the whole store." She would be a lot nicer to him now.

TC: "Alright!"

"What a second!" Starscream barked, "How come you got two-thousand, five-hundred credits and I only got approved for two-hundred and fifty?"

Then Laserbeak came over, "Excuse me, Starscream."

The red and white Seeker ignored him.

"We have no idea how the register decides these numbers, Sir," Sunblast told him.

"Excuse me, Starscream," Laserbeak tried again.

"But I'm the Air Commander of the Decepticons," Starscream insisted, "Why do I have bad credit?!"

"I don't know, Sir," Sunblast shrugged, turning to her co-worker, "Stormrunner, why did Thundercracker get more credit than Starscream?"

"Well," based on her previous conversation with the Seeker, the older Associate knew exactly what the problem was, "that sometimes happens with you're Bonded to a Tarnian."

"Megatron," Starscream grumbled, "he ruined my credit rating."

"AHHHAHAHAHA!" Thundercracker couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"So," Sunblast began to set up his order again, "are you expecting a little femme this time?" She thought Starscream was the carrier.

Laserbeak persisted, "Starscream…"

"Huh?" the Trine Leader was distracted by the Bird, "No, I'm not carrying."

"Nah, this is for our brother's sparkling," Thundercracker explained, "he's having the little femme."

With the line of customers completed, Stormrunner came back over, "Eleven customers later, and you're still waiting on the blue guy."

Sunblast: "Sorry, Stormy." She finished his order and handed him the receipt.

Starscream: "I can't believe Megatron ruined my credit rating."

Laserbeak: "Starscream…"

Starscream mused now, "Although, it may have been my divorce from Skyfire…"

"Now I wanna buy this stuff," Thundercracker told the Associate, picking up the sleepers.

"Of course," Sunblast told him, ringing them up.

Laserbeak: "No one listens to me."

Stormrunner tried to help by bagging up the items, "Can I help you, son?"

"I am attempting to obtain Starscream's attention," Laserbeak explained.

Stormrunner: "Hey Starscream!"

Finally, he listened, "Yes, Stormy?"

She ignored his newfound familiarity, "Your friend or nephew or whatever he is, is talking to you."

Starscream looked at Laserbeak now.

"At last, I have your attention," Laserbeak signed, "Commander, your triplet mechs are destroying the department store."

All four of them saw it at once: The store was trashed! Darkwing had pulled all the papers out of the paper-folded Polo and dumped the items on the floor; Dawning had collected all the hangers from the Formalwear department, and Darkmount had spilled his sparkling-Energon all over the underplating fixture.

"MY POLO!" Sunblast yelled as she ran to her department.

"THE UNDERPLATTING!" Stormrunner yelled as she too ran to correct the mess.

"Oh man!" Thundercracker tried as he scooped up Dawning, "We'll help you clean it up!"

"You boys are being naughty," Starscream scolded his laughing Darkwing, "you're just like your uncle Skywarp!"

TC came over with the little guy in his arms, "Where's Darkmount?"

They looked around, and saw the little guy wrecking the holiday display, taking the ornaments off the Christmas trees.

Starscream quickly lifted him up, "Darkmount, NO!"

The Associates hurriedly cleaned up the various messes, folding and repackaging, respectively, as fast as they could. By the time their fellow Associate, Lunarbolt had returned from lunch, they had another line of Christmas-shopping customers waiting for them. 

"Lunary, you take the customers," Stormrunner ordered, "I'll take the cart!" she then wheeled her tool of the trade and began picking up all the hanger-less merchandise off the floor.

"Ugh, you guys are gonna get us kicked outta the store," TC put Dawning and Darkwing back in the cart, "C'mon, Star, let's hurry up. The kids are getting too rambunctious."

"Fine, fine," Starscream groaned, getting Darkmount into the other cart, "Just let me look at the Polo items."

The red and white Seeker began to go through the department fixture by fixture, "Wow, this is nice," he found toddler mechling outfits for his sons, before finding the newborn femme clothing for his niece-to-be.

Meanwhile, TC tried to entertain his nephews, holding and bouncing Dawning while he rocked Darkwing in the cart. He smiled as the femme Associates amused him, thinking how Skywarp would have enjoyed shopping with them.

"Hey Stormy," Lunarbolt told her co-worker as she examined the register, "I made my goal twice over!"

"That's cause you were ringing and I was cleaning!" Stormrunner griped.

Then TC remembered he still had the credits from his Creators, "Hey Stormy? Can I pay my credit card bill?"

"Fine." the Associate could have screamed, "Everyone else around here gets the sales and the orders, but they just make their PAYMENTS with me!"

The blue Seeker wasn't sure if that was a yes or a no, so he just stood there.

"Come on!" Stormrunner rolled her optics and waved her hand out to him, "Come on, bring it over."

"Okay," TC smiled and sat Dawning on the counter while he retrieved the credits from his subspace, "I'll pay my brother's bill too."

Stormrunner: "He has to bring his new store charge over here."

Thundercracker called behind him, "HEY STAR!"

Starscream yelled from across the aisle, "WHAT?"

TC: "I WANNA PAY OFF YOUR CREDIT CARD!"

Starscream: "MEGATRON AND I CAN PAY FOR IT!"

TC: "BUT MOM AND DAD WANTED TO PAY FOR EVERYTHING!"

Stormrunner was ready to kill them both.

Starscream: "YOU CAN PAY FOR THIS NEW STUFF IF YOU WANT!"

TC: "OH, OKAY!"

"Well, I think that's everything." the red and white Seeker brought his cart over, "We've got sparkling bottles, diapers, blankets."

"You know," Sunblast came up behind him, holding a pair of pedes sleepers, "you really should get your brother these."

Starscream wasn't against it; "It might help," Thundercracker added, "he's been getting cold a lot."

"You know what they say," the younger Associate told them in all seriousness, "when one is carrying, you must wrap his pedes up at all times…because he's walking with one pede in the grave."

The two brothers froze.

"Oh, CAN it!" Stormrunner told her co-worker.

"Stormy, don't yell." Lunarbolt corrected.

Stormrunner: "But she keeps talking about that stupid pastor from her church!"

"We'll take them," Thundercracker tried to smile, putting the items in their cart, "thanks for the tip, kid."

"Hey TC," Starscream remembered sometime, changing the subject, "I need purple yarn to finish that blanket!'

"Well, hurry up!" his brother told him as he put the Polo items on the counter.

As Stormrunner rang up his purchases, Sunblast flirted with him, "So, both your brothers have sparklings."

TC tried to ignore her, "That's right."

"So, um," she continued, "You got a girlfriend?"

Thundercracker turned and grinned at her, "Not if you were the last Seeker femme in Vos, Sunblast."

Stormrunner tipped her digits on the counter impatiently while the line again piled up.

Lunarbolt meanwhile, helped Starscream select which yarn best matched the youngest Seeker's unique purple coloring, "I would say, Amethyst is the closest to what you're looking for, Sir."

"Yes, this is definitely it," the Trine Leader told her in old Vosian, "I'll take two rolls, I make tons of mistakes."

"WILL YOU HURRY UP!" Stormrunner bellowed now, "YOU TWO HAVE BEEN DRIVING ME CRAZY ALL DAY!"

"Yes, yes," Starscream came over with the yarn, "Add these to our sale."

The line was huge now; Sunblast jumped on the other register, "Step over!"

"OH GREAT!" Stormrunner was furious at them now, "YOU KNOW HOW MANY SALES I'M GONNA LOSE CAUSE YOU IDIOTS KEEP HOLDING UP THE LINE?!"

"Stormy, be quiet!" Sunblast told her.

Starscream didn't care; he began to bundle up Darkwing followed by Darkmount and Dawning, while Thundercracker paid for their items.

"Ma'am" Laserbeak attempted to calm the Associate.

"DON'T TELL ME TO BE QUIET!" Stormrunner hollered at her co-worker, "I'VE BEEN WAITING ON THESE TWO, ICE CREAM AND BLUNTERCRACKER, OR WHATEVER THEIR NAMES ARE, ALL DAY!"

Laserbeak: "Ma'am."

Stormrunner finished the sale while Lunarbolt bagged up their items, "AND THEY OPENED CREDIT CARDS WITH YOU AND SUNBLAST AND NOT ME!"

Laserbeak: "Ma'am."

Stormrunner: "NOBODY WANTS TO OPEN A CREDIT WITH A LOSER LIKE ME!"

Laserbeak: "Ma'am."

Finally, Stormrunner heard the Bird, "WHAT?!"

"Ma'am," Laserbeak said politely, "I would like you to open a store credit card for myself."

The Associate's demeanor changed completely, "Aw, thank you, Sir." She processed his application, "Congratulations, Laserbeak, you've been approved for ten-thousand credits today!"

The Condor smirked, telling the stunned Seekers, "Await in the transporter, I shall now begin my Christmas shopping." He pulled out his cell phone, "But first, I shall check in with Father."

"Hey," Thundercracker thought to apologize to the Associates, "we really wanna thank you for all you femmes did for us today, helping with getting all this for our brother's sparkling."

"Yes, we really do appreciate it," Starscream agreed.

"Aw, and I'm sorry for yelling at ya," Stormrunner agreed, stepping out from behind the counter to hug the blue Seeker.

Back at the Decepticon Underwater Base, Soundwave was at his Computer Consul, imputing the latest of the sorted-out information.

After working hard sorting more files all day, Skywarp had laid down with his pedes up on the sofa for a nap. He was still half-asleep while he felt Soundwave gently shaking him, "Hmmm?"

"Skywarp, your brothers want to show you something," the Tapedeck had a portable computer tablet in his hand; he sat down and showed it to the pregnant flyer.

Laserbeak was giving them a face-time with his brothers and the Associates.

"Hey Skywarp," TC began, "everybody here at the store in Vos wants to say hi!" he was holding up Dawning, who was waving, "Hi-Hi!"

"We just wanted to wish you congratulations on your sparkling!" Lunarbolt told him.

"We got everything a newling could ever need!" Starscream said as he held the giggling Darkwing and Darkmount.

"Have a safe and happy delivery!" Sunblast smiled.

"And come visit our store with your little femme!" Stormrunner said excitedly.

The group all waved and smiled at him.

Skywarp was smiling the biggest smile and crying happy coolant tears after seeing and hearing all these well-wishings. Soundwave put his arm around the carrying flyer as he told everyone, "Thank you! I love you all."


End file.
